Wow, what a day! (it's a long post... ;))
Man after last night I was so ready to get a new day going, a fresh new start! New mercies every morning and for that I'm so thankful!! :D
It started off early, very early! I set my alarm for 5. I know, some of you that's a piece of cake... But I had NO idea where I was going, and what to expect! I just figured after talking with the lady that was doing the molds, that we were just putting molds in Ella's ears. In and out, just like that.
Got up, hit the alarm, laid there, praying... Got in the shower at 5:10, and got dressed, ate really fast, made a cup of coffee to take with me, hoping I would actually REMEMBER to take it with me! ;) I heard Gavin, so told him to get dressed, then had him fill up 6 baggies with pretzels and raisins. Maybe needed it on the way home?
Then I went upstairs and got the rest of them awake and made sure their clothes matched since they were still sleeping pretty much! The only thing that woke Thad up was wearing a green Star Wars sweat shirt! ;)
Then loaded and in the van by 6:04. Just a mere 4 minutes past what I wanted, but hey, not bad right?
And yes, I remembered my cup of coffee! :) Not that caffeine works for me, but it was yummy... ;)
It was nice trip out there, they were singing to some of the songs on the radio on the way there, then the sun was "waking the clouds" (as Thad put it) and they thought that was THE coolest ever! It really was very pretty. Made me wonder how many times the people driving miss that beauty that God created? They are all in a rush to get to work, that they miss that sun rise. Ok, so people driving into DC will maybe miss it b/c it would be behind them, but I could very clearly look in my mirror and see it. Beyond the car head lights, but I saw it! Was reminded of how AWESOME He is! So as I am sitting in traffic, people honking and giving me their pretty finger b/c I'm letting others in front me (little do they know I do it b/c it upsets them.. heehee... Not really, well, not ALL the time. I do it to be nice too, b/c how many people are nice and let you over? NONE let me over... and lets just say I needed over a LOT.... GPS, that's all I'm gonna say....)
Ok, back to where we were...
So since the sun was making an appearance the kids claimed they needed to eat. So I threw back their baggies of cheerios and raisins and they munched away. I lost Ella and Thad right before getting there, but that's ok! A little nap for them was good! :D
My GPS, well... It's an older one and it likes to trick me, and esp if I don't know WHERE I am going... HAHA!!! So I-395 was detoured, and I saw that, but couldn't get over fast enough, well, I could, but no one was letting me over... drove on, and it was TOTALLY fine b/c I COMPLETELY missed interstate! YEAH!!!!! In my case, that's a good thing, I'd much rather drive the streets of DC so I don't have to worry about hittingI-395 instead of 295 or 495, I dunno. It only added an extra 5 minutes anyways... That's without traffic.... Then my GPS was showing the Scottish Rite Center 2 blocks that way when it was THIS way. Thankfully I remembered where she told me to park off of Mozart Street. I won't mention that I forgot the directions on how and where to park, but I did remember the name of the street! SCORE for me!
We found it and was there in plenty of time to check in, get a drink of water, and go to the bathroom, with 10 minutes to spare. I beat the lady by the way... ;)
This place was REALLY nice! The kids liked the waiting room b/c there are 3 fish tanks! Then right before getting called upstairs, they put in Lion King... It was still on after we were done, so they could watch a bit before leaving! ;)
Got called back, well, upstairs and she took us to a room. Never once mentioned or looked shocked that there were all 6 there. She took it all in stride if she was shocked, I never once noticed! I REALLLLLY liked this lady! She was GREAT!
Back in the room, they sat down, and she went and got 2 extra chairs for the kids, they colored while she asked me if I knew anything about hearing loss. Well, what am I supposed to say? I know next to nothing about hearing aides, and got some info on the implants, but you really can only read so much before brain goes on overload!
She said no problem. Lets go to this room and do a hearing test on Keegan. I'm sitting there, ok, you didn't want to last night, but ok, let's do this! :)
She wanted me to see the room to see how we could work it with the kids. I then told her that Keegan had actually gone into the room by himself with the audiologist and did just fine. So she said ok, you guys wait here and I'll take him in. She was in there for about 5-10 minutes and then came out and put on a set of headphones with a mic. She said she wanted to see if he would respond to her voice. She said she had some definite positive responses with the sounds. She said there were times he was like eh, I'm bored, and threw it in, but he picked up some sounds!!! So she kept saying bababababa, and then she would cover her mouth so he couldn't see her mouth move and there were a few times he didn't and then she upped the sound and he heard her and put the block in the bucket!
I didn't sit by the window where he would see me, I didn't want that to distract him, but I could see his arm and then putting the block in the bucket... Then I could see a bit more of his body with out seeing his face when she was talking... I was absolutely giddy without showing... Just saying over and over in my head, thank you Jesus!!!
So out of that room and back into the first room we were in, and time for the molds. She said she was going to do Keegan first so Ella could watch, and I said perfect! That's what we've been doing all along. It seems to help and works great! He's awesome about going first!
She took 2 tubs out, one is white and one a yellow gooey substance. She told the kids that once the 2 combine, it will harden within 5 minutes. She said as long as they are separate like this, they won't get hard. Then took a teeny tiny foam thing that was attached to the string. It go put in their ears so the gooey substance wouldn't travel into their ear drums. By pulling gently on the string, it would draw the mold out. (let me just say that she was SUPER patient with the kids, not only did she explain everything she did, she answered questions they had, which wasn't many, but she listened to them ramble) She took the gooey stuff and put it in a shot like thingy, and shot it in the ear, Then after 5 minutes were up, out comes the mold of their ear!
I have some pictures, on my phone, so will download those soon and get those posted on here! ;)
She had a REALLY cool little flashlight in their ear while she was pushing the foam piece in. Ella didn't like it so much, she fussed a bit, then she pulled it out b/c it was still a bit too big, and said maybe you could hold her? Put her on my lap and held her hands and she did great! Fussed a bit again for the 1st ear when putting the foam in, but she was fine!
Claire asked if I knew of any known ear infections that Ella had, and told her, i have absolutely no medical history at all. She said did she have an ear infection since getting home, and I said not that I know of. She was asking b/c there was some scaring on her ear drum like from a rupture ear drum. I said, this may be a stupid question, but did that cause her deafness? She said that is actually a great question, and the answer is no. Both of your kids deafness is due to the nerves.
You can pick colors for hearing aides or go with the typical pink, clear or white. I'm looking at the clear wondering, eh, is that gonna look good after a while? ;) Then Claire said that most parents like to get colored ones since they are easier to find! Keegan got blue and Ella got a pink.
We needed to go back into the waiting room and wait for her to write up the results of Keegans hearing test. She then came down and said, I'm assuming someone told you the cost of the molds? I shook my head no. She well ok, someone should've told you before today, but most insurances do not cover the cost, but we send it anyways, we always like to try. :) I said thank you, and told her that yes I did call insurance last night and was informed (as I knew already) that hearing aides are not covered. She told me ok, well, each pair of mold is $214. Just wanted to let you know that you could be getting a bill in the mail if insurance doesn't cover it. I'm thinking, ok, I was expecting a LOT more, but i can deal with that... Still no idea on a price for the hearing aide yet, I only know the ball park price from the internet... ;)
Decided to see how close the ZOO was, b/c I thought we were close... And we were, so off we went... I didn't tell them... We passed the front entrance, they said, it's prob closed. I pulled into the parking park and it took a bit, but they realized, HEY, we are are the ZOO!!!! :) I parked and said, you guys were so good, I thought you would like to come here for a bit. I said, we aren't staying very long, and by the time we get home, lunch may be a bit late... Ok mom, no prob! Keegan did very well! He was a bit unsure of the pandas, but went right up then. We got to see them feeding an octopus and learn about that. So not only did they get hands on health and inside of the ear info, they got to see and learn about the octopus! :) We were there for almost 2 hours...
Got in van and plugged in how to get home... Got a text from Necie asking if I wanted to come meet her for lunch, and said sure! So off we go... We ended up at Chick-fil-A where Jason from church works... Kotah is like hey mom, that guy is from our church. I said yep, so went and talked to him a bit... Then back to eat my lunch. A lady by the name of Michelle who works there kept checking up on us to see if we needed help with anything... I said we are good... She came back again and I didn't fully hear what she said, but heard Necie say NOPE, with a HUGE smile on her face and pointing at me! I was like, oh... Yes ma'am, all 6 are mine. She was like whoa, wow. Ok. Gods blessed you! I said yes ma'am He sure has. So we chatted a bit more... We were almost done with everything and getting around to go, and she walks over to me and has this huge smile on her face holding a cookie sundae. I look at her and smile and say is this for the kids to share? She said, well, if that's what you want to do with it. I was bringing it to you. I said oh wow, thank you so much! Not 2 minutes later she came back with ANOTHER sundae, this one was a brownie one. So Necie took it and fed the kids with it! ;)
Took her back to work, and walked in and met some of her co-workers and saw where her desk was... It was funny b/c as we were walking through, I heard whoa, you running a daycare now Necie, then a, didn't know we were a field trip place... hahaha... ;) I said uh hey Necie, you got some explaining to do when we leave!! ;)
Back on the road to home... Since all the kids were awake, I said hey, guys, I need to stop at Mom's Organic to see if they have some quinoa. They said ok mom! So in we go and YAY they had bulk quinoa! As we walked in there was a worker with a Captain America shirt on... Thad just went oh mom!!! Did you see he has a CAPTAIN AMERICA shirt on! You could obviously tell the poor boy wanted HIM to check us out!
Thankfully he was still up front so Thad could stare at his shirt! ;) The cashier saw me signing to Keegan and Ella b/c he was doing something to make her fuss. So I said stop now please. And then just looked at Ella.. ;) I turned back around and he said, were you signing to him? I said yes. He said, does he know sign language? I said well, not a ton, but he's getting to learn more. Both of them (as I'm pointing) are deaf. He said, oh, can I sign something to him? I said sure, he may not know what you are saying... ;) So he said hi, how are you? Keegan grinned that sweet smile and said thank you. ;) I asked the cashier how he knew sign language. The bagger is like, yeah man, I want to learn sign language, I got a few friends who are deaf. I said it's never to late to learn! :) The cashier just mentioned that he was a student at Washington State in Seattle (???) and he wants to do something with it out here... I didn't get to ask anymore as another customer came up...
It's been a day. A good day. But a lot to process. After last night, I should've known something was up God's sleeve, and boy was it EVER!!!! He has answered prayer and blessed me beyond belief today!
I haven't told too many people b/c, but a while ago, Curt had blown up a Target bag and popped it and Keegan jumped. He wasn't looking at Curt either. After getting no other responses with loud noises, and then failing the hearing test, I was thinking, well, maybe it was just that one time. I wasn't giving up that he didn't have hearing, but didn't know...? Was informed that his right ear has more hearing than his left, and I can remember that day with the bag... That was the side that the bag was on...
Was also told that he may not need the ABR test... But didn't know for sure. They may still want to do it, but wasn't sure. I will know by the end of the week whether he has to do it or not.
The kids all did a great job at being good today, I'm proud of them! :) They were really good and not complaining about getting up early, and going in, the van ride was good, and they were acting up a bit tonight, but it was a big long day! All in all... a good day!
God IS good ALL the time and ALL the time God IS good! Thank you for all your prayers, please keep praying, can TOTALLY feel them and can't tell you how thankful and grateful I am for all prayers and love! It's still the start of this journey, but God is good!
Oh and another note, Keegan looked at his supper, held up the cooked carrot and signed carrot! He's getting it!!! I asked him to get my bread the other day and he did! Ahh.... Slowly we are getting there, but we ARE getting there!! :D
Man after last night I was so ready to get a new day going, a fresh new start! New mercies every morning and for that I'm so thankful!! :D
It started off early, very early! I set my alarm for 5. I know, some of you that's a piece of cake... But I had NO idea where I was going, and what to expect! I just figured after talking with the lady that was doing the molds, that we were just putting molds in Ella's ears. In and out, just like that.
Got up, hit the alarm, laid there, praying... Got in the shower at 5:10, and got dressed, ate really fast, made a cup of coffee to take with me, hoping I would actually REMEMBER to take it with me! ;) I heard Gavin, so told him to get dressed, then had him fill up 6 baggies with pretzels and raisins. Maybe needed it on the way home?
Then I went upstairs and got the rest of them awake and made sure their clothes matched since they were still sleeping pretty much! The only thing that woke Thad up was wearing a green Star Wars sweat shirt! ;)
Then loaded and in the van by 6:04. Just a mere 4 minutes past what I wanted, but hey, not bad right?
And yes, I remembered my cup of coffee! :) Not that caffeine works for me, but it was yummy... ;)
It was nice trip out there, they were singing to some of the songs on the radio on the way there, then the sun was "waking the clouds" (as Thad put it) and they thought that was THE coolest ever! It really was very pretty. Made me wonder how many times the people driving miss that beauty that God created? They are all in a rush to get to work, that they miss that sun rise. Ok, so people driving into DC will maybe miss it b/c it would be behind them, but I could very clearly look in my mirror and see it. Beyond the car head lights, but I saw it! Was reminded of how AWESOME He is! So as I am sitting in traffic, people honking and giving me their pretty finger b/c I'm letting others in front me (little do they know I do it b/c it upsets them.. heehee... Not really, well, not ALL the time. I do it to be nice too, b/c how many people are nice and let you over? NONE let me over... and lets just say I needed over a LOT.... GPS, that's all I'm gonna say....)
Ok, back to where we were...
So since the sun was making an appearance the kids claimed they needed to eat. So I threw back their baggies of cheerios and raisins and they munched away. I lost Ella and Thad right before getting there, but that's ok! A little nap for them was good! :D
My GPS, well... It's an older one and it likes to trick me, and esp if I don't know WHERE I am going... HAHA!!! So I-395 was detoured, and I saw that, but couldn't get over fast enough, well, I could, but no one was letting me over... drove on, and it was TOTALLY fine b/c I COMPLETELY missed interstate! YEAH!!!!! In my case, that's a good thing, I'd much rather drive the streets of DC so I don't have to worry about hittingI-395 instead of 295 or 495, I dunno. It only added an extra 5 minutes anyways... That's without traffic.... Then my GPS was showing the Scottish Rite Center 2 blocks that way when it was THIS way. Thankfully I remembered where she told me to park off of Mozart Street. I won't mention that I forgot the directions on how and where to park, but I did remember the name of the street! SCORE for me!
We found it and was there in plenty of time to check in, get a drink of water, and go to the bathroom, with 10 minutes to spare. I beat the lady by the way... ;)
This place was REALLY nice! The kids liked the waiting room b/c there are 3 fish tanks! Then right before getting called upstairs, they put in Lion King... It was still on after we were done, so they could watch a bit before leaving! ;)
Got called back, well, upstairs and she took us to a room. Never once mentioned or looked shocked that there were all 6 there. She took it all in stride if she was shocked, I never once noticed! I REALLLLLY liked this lady! She was GREAT!
Back in the room, they sat down, and she went and got 2 extra chairs for the kids, they colored while she asked me if I knew anything about hearing loss. Well, what am I supposed to say? I know next to nothing about hearing aides, and got some info on the implants, but you really can only read so much before brain goes on overload!
She said no problem. Lets go to this room and do a hearing test on Keegan. I'm sitting there, ok, you didn't want to last night, but ok, let's do this! :)
She wanted me to see the room to see how we could work it with the kids. I then told her that Keegan had actually gone into the room by himself with the audiologist and did just fine. So she said ok, you guys wait here and I'll take him in. She was in there for about 5-10 minutes and then came out and put on a set of headphones with a mic. She said she wanted to see if he would respond to her voice. She said she had some definite positive responses with the sounds. She said there were times he was like eh, I'm bored, and threw it in, but he picked up some sounds!!! So she kept saying bababababa, and then she would cover her mouth so he couldn't see her mouth move and there were a few times he didn't and then she upped the sound and he heard her and put the block in the bucket!
I didn't sit by the window where he would see me, I didn't want that to distract him, but I could see his arm and then putting the block in the bucket... Then I could see a bit more of his body with out seeing his face when she was talking... I was absolutely giddy without showing... Just saying over and over in my head, thank you Jesus!!!
So out of that room and back into the first room we were in, and time for the molds. She said she was going to do Keegan first so Ella could watch, and I said perfect! That's what we've been doing all along. It seems to help and works great! He's awesome about going first!
She took 2 tubs out, one is white and one a yellow gooey substance. She told the kids that once the 2 combine, it will harden within 5 minutes. She said as long as they are separate like this, they won't get hard. Then took a teeny tiny foam thing that was attached to the string. It go put in their ears so the gooey substance wouldn't travel into their ear drums. By pulling gently on the string, it would draw the mold out. (let me just say that she was SUPER patient with the kids, not only did she explain everything she did, she answered questions they had, which wasn't many, but she listened to them ramble) She took the gooey stuff and put it in a shot like thingy, and shot it in the ear, Then after 5 minutes were up, out comes the mold of their ear!
I have some pictures, on my phone, so will download those soon and get those posted on here! ;)
She had a REALLY cool little flashlight in their ear while she was pushing the foam piece in. Ella didn't like it so much, she fussed a bit, then she pulled it out b/c it was still a bit too big, and said maybe you could hold her? Put her on my lap and held her hands and she did great! Fussed a bit again for the 1st ear when putting the foam in, but she was fine!
Claire asked if I knew of any known ear infections that Ella had, and told her, i have absolutely no medical history at all. She said did she have an ear infection since getting home, and I said not that I know of. She was asking b/c there was some scaring on her ear drum like from a rupture ear drum. I said, this may be a stupid question, but did that cause her deafness? She said that is actually a great question, and the answer is no. Both of your kids deafness is due to the nerves.
You can pick colors for hearing aides or go with the typical pink, clear or white. I'm looking at the clear wondering, eh, is that gonna look good after a while? ;) Then Claire said that most parents like to get colored ones since they are easier to find! Keegan got blue and Ella got a pink.
We needed to go back into the waiting room and wait for her to write up the results of Keegans hearing test. She then came down and said, I'm assuming someone told you the cost of the molds? I shook my head no. She well ok, someone should've told you before today, but most insurances do not cover the cost, but we send it anyways, we always like to try. :) I said thank you, and told her that yes I did call insurance last night and was informed (as I knew already) that hearing aides are not covered. She told me ok, well, each pair of mold is $214. Just wanted to let you know that you could be getting a bill in the mail if insurance doesn't cover it. I'm thinking, ok, I was expecting a LOT more, but i can deal with that... Still no idea on a price for the hearing aide yet, I only know the ball park price from the internet... ;)
Decided to see how close the ZOO was, b/c I thought we were close... And we were, so off we went... I didn't tell them... We passed the front entrance, they said, it's prob closed. I pulled into the parking park and it took a bit, but they realized, HEY, we are are the ZOO!!!! :) I parked and said, you guys were so good, I thought you would like to come here for a bit. I said, we aren't staying very long, and by the time we get home, lunch may be a bit late... Ok mom, no prob! Keegan did very well! He was a bit unsure of the pandas, but went right up then. We got to see them feeding an octopus and learn about that. So not only did they get hands on health and inside of the ear info, they got to see and learn about the octopus! :) We were there for almost 2 hours...
Got in van and plugged in how to get home... Got a text from Necie asking if I wanted to come meet her for lunch, and said sure! So off we go... We ended up at Chick-fil-A where Jason from church works... Kotah is like hey mom, that guy is from our church. I said yep, so went and talked to him a bit... Then back to eat my lunch. A lady by the name of Michelle who works there kept checking up on us to see if we needed help with anything... I said we are good... She came back again and I didn't fully hear what she said, but heard Necie say NOPE, with a HUGE smile on her face and pointing at me! I was like, oh... Yes ma'am, all 6 are mine. She was like whoa, wow. Ok. Gods blessed you! I said yes ma'am He sure has. So we chatted a bit more... We were almost done with everything and getting around to go, and she walks over to me and has this huge smile on her face holding a cookie sundae. I look at her and smile and say is this for the kids to share? She said, well, if that's what you want to do with it. I was bringing it to you. I said oh wow, thank you so much! Not 2 minutes later she came back with ANOTHER sundae, this one was a brownie one. So Necie took it and fed the kids with it! ;)
Took her back to work, and walked in and met some of her co-workers and saw where her desk was... It was funny b/c as we were walking through, I heard whoa, you running a daycare now Necie, then a, didn't know we were a field trip place... hahaha... ;) I said uh hey Necie, you got some explaining to do when we leave!! ;)
Back on the road to home... Since all the kids were awake, I said hey, guys, I need to stop at Mom's Organic to see if they have some quinoa. They said ok mom! So in we go and YAY they had bulk quinoa! As we walked in there was a worker with a Captain America shirt on... Thad just went oh mom!!! Did you see he has a CAPTAIN AMERICA shirt on! You could obviously tell the poor boy wanted HIM to check us out!
Thankfully he was still up front so Thad could stare at his shirt! ;) The cashier saw me signing to Keegan and Ella b/c he was doing something to make her fuss. So I said stop now please. And then just looked at Ella.. ;) I turned back around and he said, were you signing to him? I said yes. He said, does he know sign language? I said well, not a ton, but he's getting to learn more. Both of them (as I'm pointing) are deaf. He said, oh, can I sign something to him? I said sure, he may not know what you are saying... ;) So he said hi, how are you? Keegan grinned that sweet smile and said thank you. ;) I asked the cashier how he knew sign language. The bagger is like, yeah man, I want to learn sign language, I got a few friends who are deaf. I said it's never to late to learn! :) The cashier just mentioned that he was a student at Washington State in Seattle (???) and he wants to do something with it out here... I didn't get to ask anymore as another customer came up...
It's been a day. A good day. But a lot to process. After last night, I should've known something was up God's sleeve, and boy was it EVER!!!! He has answered prayer and blessed me beyond belief today!
I haven't told too many people b/c, but a while ago, Curt had blown up a Target bag and popped it and Keegan jumped. He wasn't looking at Curt either. After getting no other responses with loud noises, and then failing the hearing test, I was thinking, well, maybe it was just that one time. I wasn't giving up that he didn't have hearing, but didn't know...? Was informed that his right ear has more hearing than his left, and I can remember that day with the bag... That was the side that the bag was on...
Was also told that he may not need the ABR test... But didn't know for sure. They may still want to do it, but wasn't sure. I will know by the end of the week whether he has to do it or not.
The kids all did a great job at being good today, I'm proud of them! :) They were really good and not complaining about getting up early, and going in, the van ride was good, and they were acting up a bit tonight, but it was a big long day! All in all... a good day!
God IS good ALL the time and ALL the time God IS good! Thank you for all your prayers, please keep praying, can TOTALLY feel them and can't tell you how thankful and grateful I am for all prayers and love! It's still the start of this journey, but God is good!
Oh and another note, Keegan looked at his supper, held up the cooked carrot and signed carrot! He's getting it!!! I asked him to get my bread the other day and he did! Ahh.... Slowly we are getting there, but we ARE getting there!! :D
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